Sugar 2.0 hits the markets

Debuting in December 2015, Sugar 2.0 in less than six months has already hit supermarket shelves at Bristol Farms, Northgate Gonzalez Markets, and Super King Markets as well as a host of independent stores. Sugar 2.0 anticipates heavyweight grocers Pavilions and Albertsons will come on board later this year with Wal-Mart, Kroger and selected Costco club stores to follow.

Like most parents, founder Trong Nguyen was concerned about how much sugar his kids were consuming every day. But unlike them, Nguyen, a Southern California food product developer, used his knowledge to address the issue in a simple yet innovative way. The result is Sugar 2.0, a non-gmo cane sugar product with half the sugar, a third less calories and the same familiar taste and mouth feel as real sugar.

Nguyen felt there were only two alternatives to reducing his children’s alarming sugar consumption. Try to eliminate sugar altogether, far easier said than done. Or switch to synthetic sweeteners, whose health advantages are still being debated. Nguyen refused to use his children as guinea pigs on artificial sweeteners and fillers; besides, his children hated the bitter flavors and wouldn’t touch it. Nguyen felt that the only realistic way to create a reduced sugar replacement without affecting flavor was to cut the sugar content in half and replace the other half with a natural ingredient that had sugar’s familiar texture, taste and versatility.

After more than two years of research, Nguyen found a natural, sustainable ingredient capable of blending seamlessly with sugar while retaining its natural sweet taste. "I was staring at apple slices that I had cut up for my kids", says Nguyen, "and had a eureka moment! It struck me that one reason why eating something as sweet as an apple is still beneficial is because of its fiber content. Reducing sugar is important but the linchpin is blending sugar with soluble fiber. It enabled me to remove non-essential fillers while adding an important nutrient usually lacking in the everyday diet."

Nguyen believes Sugar 2.0 is the next big thing — real cane sugar blended with non-gmo soluble prebiotic fiber for a synergistic taste and mouth feel. The breakthrough ingredient not only cuts sugar content in half it also enhances its nutritional value with fiber. Fiber plays an instrumental part in digestive and immune health. Fiber is a carb blocker that helps to reduce the absorption of sugar in the body. Lastly, Sugar 2.0 contains no artificial ingredients or high-intensity sweeteners, meaning the bitterness and chemical aftertaste of synthetic sweeteners do not exist in Sugar 2.0.